Basic Survival Isn't Vegan
by Spanno
on January 11, 2008
Vegetarians in Paradise, a website devoted to all things veggie, recently posted a basic survival guide for anything from flooding to the inevitable return of Xenu. One of the major issues for veggies is getting protein. According to ViP, "You may be able to get vegan food in a disaster, but you can count on NOT getting vegan protein. For that reason your survival kit should focus on protein sources."
BoingBoing, a directory of wonderful things, posted this a few days ago and received a plethora of feedback, including gems like, "there are no atheists in foxholes, there are no vegans in tsunamis" and "I'll be eating the vegetarians to get my protein source."
So, vegetarians/vegans, would you eat meat as a last resort?
--Spanno
Jamie on January 13, 2008 at 04:07 PM
adie, do you think the meat-eaters would refuse the baked beans? Flexibility... it's the key. It's also (I think) why we have canines AND molars.
Speedwell on January 13, 2008 at 05:49 PM
From a long-time and current vegan to so-called "ethical" vegans: You obsessed fanatics make me sick. You're the kind of people who would deliberately hurt someone's feelings or destroy their property just to prove your point. You're in the same category as the PETA people who "euthanized" dogs that were supposed to have been cared for in a "no-kill" shelter. You would, in short, cause pain and death in your "good cause" of avoiding pain and death. I have a name for you, and it's not "ethical."
Decken on January 14, 2008 at 11:24 AM
Ethics has nothing to do with being a Vegan or Vegetarian. If you don't want to eat meat then don't eat meat. Simple.
Ethics has a lot to do with casting aspersions on others because of your personal choices. The “ethical” argument that Vegan chooses not to eat meat because of the methods used for slaughtering can be removed by having the slaughtering done in a Vegan acceptable manner.
What is un-ethical is to set up a secondary system of Superior Rights for those who declare themselves to moral or ethically superior to others. I believe in cause “X” as I am a better person then the non-believer, therefore I am entitled to an extra set of Rights.
I have no problem with people who don’t eat meat. I do have a problem with them announcing it and then lauding their dietary habits over me.
One special Right that “Vegans” and/or the plant eaters, seem to have is the Right to constantly eat in front of me. They just seem to be hungry all the time and because they are vegetarians they have the special Right to eat in awkward situations. Stop it. We booted the smokers outside because we did not want them smoking in front of us. Bad manners are still bad manners; nothing to do with health or rights. Just stop eating in front of me because you are hungry between “meals”. And stop telling me about your personal problems with meat I don’t want to hear about it when I am in a captive situation. (Oh, and try to take a bath, comb your hair and get those Hemp clothes dry-cleaned once in a while.
BostonBarrister on January 18, 2008 at 04:24 PM
You can't be a vegan for health reasons - at least not for valid health reasons...
As to vegetarians, I think the healthy effects of vegetarianism tend to be misattributed - they're often attributed to cutting out meat, when really they should be attributed to eating more fruits and vegetables. All of the "proof" I've seen for the health effects of vegetarianism come from comparisons with an average American diet, not with a healthy omnivorous diet containing fruits and veggies with each meal.
Vicki on August 10, 2008 at 09:16 AM
to Speedwell: Have you checked into coconut oil? It lasts up to 2 years in storage.
Veggie Head on August 27, 2008 at 01:17 PM
Like Vick , I am a late comer to this thread but it baffles my mind that none of the post I read spoke about nuts, seeds and beans. All of which are high in protien not to mention other essential oils and nutrients (for the nuts and seeds). And they have a greater shelf life than meat. Therefore they make excellent survival food.
GAB on December 08, 2008 at 02:29 AM
"The whole presumption that meat would be the only source of protein is ludicrous. If dreaded doomsday comes, what on earth makes you think there would be any meat left whilst every single plant source of protein just vanishes?? Think about it, what do the animals that become meat eat? That's right, plants."
I have nothing against vegitarians, but this post is just plain stupid.
First of all, there are plenty of herbavores that do not consume vegetable protiens that a human could even remotely eat In fact some ruminants like goats and sheep can eat plants that most other herbavores like horses and cows cannot. Hence, if you live in an alpine environment, your only means of getting protien might be to eat meat.
Humans are omnivores, we have incisors, canines single chamber stomachs that define who we are and what foods are most efficient for us to eat. Humans lack the teeth and multi chambered stomachs that ruminants like goats, cows, elk, llamas etc. have. In a true survival situation; your greatest chance of survival is following the eating patterns of our ancestors. That means that meat and fish are on the menu, along with nuts berries grains and other plants.
Sue Grisham on March 01, 2009 at 05:49 PM
I just found this a year late, after Googling for survival kits & vegan survival.
I don't know what I would settle for, foodwise, if my life depended on it. But the reason I decided to Google for vegan survival is because I didn't know what kind of meals were included in the other site's survival kit -- which was really reasonable, considering all that it included. But if I'm going to stock up on days/weeks/months worth of food, I want it to be something I'd want to eat. In other words, I don't want to waste my money, just to store entrees that I might have to eat if no disaster happens by the end of their shelf life -- or settling for them in a disaster, if there was something vegan available from a different source that I could have gotten instead.
"there are no atheists in foxholes, there are no vegans in tsunamis" is not really true. Food For Life was on the ground serving hot vegan meals before any of the other humanitarian groups showed up. (And that was appropriate, since the Tsunami hit an area where many people are vegan for religious/cultural reasons.)
Sue Grisham on March 01, 2009 at 05:58 PM
P.S. The hostile anti-vegan comments are unnecessary, offensive, and in some cases displayed a propensity for some really anti-social behavior. There's a lot of misinformation in some of the posts, too, along with stupidity that I suppose was meant to be humorous.
Just passing through, I won't see any future comments.
jaya on March 17, 2009 at 07:31 PM
most vegans and vegetarians i know, including myself, are more and more focused on sustainability issues surrounding our food choices, rather than just narrow interpretations of dietary categories. in certain situations, veganism is the best choice for a low-impact diet. but if the foods have to be shipped long distances or grown and processed using lots of energy, labor, etc., it negates the benefits of plant based diets. suffering, enslavement and cruelty to animals used for food will always be an issue for us to debate, as i highly doubt that everyone will become a vegetarian. some indigenous communities in the far north can't grow veggies and have lived in balance with nature, hunting, trapping and fishing, without depleting a species for over 10,000 years. now, many of us are focusing more on eating local, unprocessed, unpackaged foods. this sometimes inspires conscious eaters to move to another bioregion where the foods they want are grown. or to figure out ways to grow things in greenhouses. in a food emergency, local foods will be all that we have to eat. that is why we would be smart to begin to organize locally for regional self-sufficiency and food independence. supporting local farms through farmers' markets and bioregional potlucks is a good thing. check out the transition town movement and relocalization...